-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- While the Academy gets ready to crown the best films of the past year , we 've got something else for your consideration . From `` The Avengers 2 '' to `` World War Z , '' CNN Entertainment presents your guide to the biggest , best and buzziest movies of 2013 .

Comic Book Heroes

Comic book franchises will be flying by us faster than a speeding bullet this year , from a reboot of the Superman series -LRB- replacing Brandon Routh from `` Superman Returns '' with Henry Cavill for `` Man of Steel '' June 14 -RRB- to the set-in-Japan `` The Wolverine '' July 26 to `` Thor : The Dark World '' November 8 .

But topping all of these on the anticipation meter -LRB- and hitting theaters first on May 3 -RRB- is `` Iron Man 3 , '' which brings Tony Stark back from the epic team-up of `` The Avengers . '' It also kicks off the next phase of Marvel movie standalones like `` Thor '' and `` Captain America : The Winter Soldier '' that lead into `` The Avengers 2 . ''

The stakes are more personal for Stark this time out , and although comic book fans will recognize the classic characters , Stark 's got new on-screen villains to contend with such as Eric Savin/Coldblood , played by James Badge Dale . `` The level of security that I got to go through to learn my own lines is out of control , '' Dale told CNN . `` They have a Marvel security guy whose job it is to run around and find photographers hiding in the forest . '' Hence the minimal leaks . Still , if 2012 is any indication , it 's safe to say we 'll all be watching .

Funny Guys

Will Ferrell , Paul Rudd , David Koechner and Steve Carell will be back in `` Anchorman : The Legend Continues '' on December 20 , just in time to keep San Diego classy for Christmas . Of his dim-witted character Brick Tamland , Steve Carell said that he hopes he has n't changed at all since the first film , which came out in 2004 . `` I think it 's such a great ensemble piece that I would hope that our roles are the same as they were the first time around , '' Carell said . `` The storyline is going to be different , but I hope the people in it are exactly the same . ''

`` Great '' Books

`` Oz : The Great and Powerful , '' `` The Great Gatsby , '' `` Great Expectations '' -- sense a theme there yet ? All of these films based on classic literature have , well , great expectations associated with them , but the anticipation around the Charles Dickens story starring Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham has dimmed a bit since its U.K. release -LRB- Its release in the United States is TBD -RRB- .

Then `` The Great Gatsby '' had its release date shuffled from December 2012 to May 10 , 2013 , curtailing potential Oscar nominations this time around -LRB- although the trailers still look promising -RRB- .

This leaves Sam Raimi 's `` Oz '' film , out March 8 , to take the lead . In this origin story , James Franco stars as the would-be wizard who leaves Kansas and lands in Oz where he meets a bevy of witches played by Mila Kunis , Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams . `` It 's otherworldly , '' Weisz said . `` It 's not just a different country ; it 's like a different planet . Definitely not on Earth . ''

Young Adult

With no more `` Harry Potter '' or `` Twilight , '' movie studios have been scrambling to create new teen-oriented franchises , and only `` The Hunger Games '' has caught fire so far . The second installment of the series , due November 22 , just wrapped shooting in Hawaii -LRB- the new Game , featuring survivors of Games past , has a water-and-jungle theme -RRB- . Fans are eager to see Katniss ' wedding dress , the clock-structure of the arena and the confrontation with President Snow . -LRB- Not to mention some extra kissing this time around ! -RRB-

But hot on the heels of `` Catching Fire '' are some worthy contenders , including boy-centric `` Ender 's Game '' -LRB- out November 1 -RRB- , `` The Mortal Instruments : City of Bones '' -LRB- out August 23 -RRB- , and the first of the Caster Chronicles books to be adapted , `` Beautiful Creatures '' -LRB- out February 13 -RRB- .

The latter two are good-versus-evil supernatural stories : `` Mortal Instruments '' is about half-angel demon hunters , or Shadowhunters , and `` Beautiful Creatures '' is about light and dark witches , or casters , who discover what they are during a ceremony at age 16 . `` We 've really loved everything we 've seen so far in the film , '' said `` Beautiful Creatures '' co-author Kami Garcia . Audiences will likely love Emmy Rossum 's take on the lollipop-wielding Ridley , who casts her siren spell with each lick .

Space Odyssey

The first nine minutes of `` Star Trek Into Darkness , '' out May 17 , are already showing in select theaters , which has amped up Trekkie speculation about plot points : Could this be a contemporary `` Wrath of Khan ? '' Will Benedict Cumberbatch 's mysterious `` John Harrison '' character become Khan ? Pointing in this direction is the casting of Alice Eve as Carol Marcus , Kirk 's long-lost love and inventor of the dangerously powerful Genesis device , which could turn uninhabitable worlds into class M planets suitable for humans but could also destroy all pre-existing life .

Alfonso CuarÃ ³ n 's `` Gravity , '' which features `` two people floating in space , '' as George Clooney put it , is also enticing . Clooney 's co-star is Sandra Bullock , who dominates the film , and together , they are the two survivors of a damaged space station . Reports from early test screenings suggest the film , out October 18 , is gorgeous and awe-inspiring , but also divisive along the lines of `` The Tree of Life . ''

Reboots

2013 will see its fair share of familiar properties getting new life in the form of remakes and reboots . `` The Lone Ranger '' series -LRB- which has existed as radio and TV shows and several film incarnations -RRB- becomes a Gore Verbinski movie -LRB- out July 3 -RRB- with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer aboard for a Tonto-centric story .

Tom Clancy-created CIA agent Jack Ryan has been played by Alec Baldwin , Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck , and now Chris Pine is getting his turn , with a release date set for December 25 .

Sissy Spacek hands the `` Carrie '' baton over to ChloÃ `` Grace Moretz on October 18 .

And Spike Lee 's American remake of the South Korean thriller `` Oldboy , '' out October 11 , stars Josh Brolin as an executive who has been mysteriously confined for years and is now freed , and sets out to find out who stole his life . Will there be any eating of live octopus like in the original ? They 're not saying , but producer Nathan Kahane promised other `` treats '' for fans . `` If you look carefully , you 'll see some of the cast from the original , '' he said .

Dragons

There 's no competition for `` The Hobbit , '' the second installment of which is due out December 13 as the Dwarves get closer to their goal of reclaiming Erebor -LRB- after getting captured by both giant spiders and Elves -RRB- . `` The Desolation of Smaug '' will feature Benedict Cumberbatch as the dragon Smaug . `` He 's absolutely fantastic , '' gushed co-star Martin Freeman . Smaug will be the first performance-captured dragon , and thanks to advancements in technology , we should be able to see more emotion and musculature in his face in the same manner in which Gollum was improved for `` The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey , '' only on a much bigger scale . Also look for some more elf action in the second `` Hobbit '' film , with the return of Orlando Bloom as Legolas .

Indie Darling

Ryan Gosling fans have three ways to see their favorite actor in 2013 : in `` Gangster Squad , '' `` Only God Forgives '' and `` The Place Beyond the Pines . '' The third of these , due March 29 , reunites Gosling with his `` Blue Valentine '' director Derek Cianfrance and kicked off his romance with co-star Eva Mendes . The movie has been getting rave reviews on the festival circuit , even if Gosling 's role as a motorcycle stunt rider who resorts to bank robbery sounds like a rehash of what he did in `` Drive . '' This time , however , it 's more of a family drama ; Gosling really only carries one third of the film . -LRB- Meanwhile , `` Only God Forgives '' is a reunion with his `` Drive '' director Nicholas Winding Refn , but has yet to screen -RRB- .

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

There wo n't be a bigger zombie apocalypse than `` World War Z , '' and it 's got one of the biggest stars -LRB- Brad Pitt -RRB- to anchor it . Max Brook 's book featured interviews from various survivors of the Zombie War , which gave both a time line and a sensation of the global nature of the catastrophe . Pitt 's character has the unenviable job of tying up disparate storylines , but if anyone can do it , it 's him .

On the comedic side , it 's a toss-up between Seth Rogen 's directorial debut `` This Is The End , '' out June 14 , and Edgar Wright 's `` The World 's End , '' out October 25 .

In `` This Is The End , '' an unspecified global cataclysm wipes out many famous actors playing themselves -LRB- including Michael Cera -RRB- , so Rogen and friends hole up at James Franco 's house and try to ride it out . `` We joke about -LRB- the potential for a sequel -RRB- , but I do n't know where it would exist , '' Rogen laughed . `` But they 'll make a sequel out of anything . There 's a script for `` Titanic 2 '' lying around somewhere . ''

Then , in the bound-to-be-self-referencing `` World 's End , '' Simon Pegg , Nick Frost and friends try to do a pub crawl on their last night alive . Fans of `` Shaun of the Dead '' and `` Hot Fuzz '' know this will be epic .

Earth Exodus

What is it with all the films this year about Earth becoming an inhospitable planet ? `` Elysium '' -LRB- starring Matt Damon , out March 1 -RRB- , `` Oblivion '' -LRB- starring Tom Cruise , out April 19 -RRB- , and `` After Earth '' -LRB- starring Will Smith , out June 7 -RRB- share common themes , but only the first two seem to blame rampant corporatization and wealth discrepancies instead of nature . `` After Earth '' focuses on survival ; `` Oblivion '' is about an underground resistance -LRB- led by Morgan Freeman -RRB- .

But `` Elysium , '' directed by Neil Blomkamp -LRB- of `` District 9 '' fame -RRB- has the most socio-political overtones . In this scenario , the rich live on a luxurious new world called Elysium , and the poor live on Earth , which has become overpopulated , diseased and crime ridden . Damon 's character fights to make a better life for himself , and inadvertently , everyone else .

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The new year brings with it a host of eagerly awaited films

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They range from comic book adaptations to reboots

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Movies include `` Iron Man 3 , '' `` Carrie '' and the second installment of `` The Hobbit ''